


Alternate Vessels

by alatarmaia4



Series: Vessel 'Verse [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5930050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alatarmaia4/pseuds/alatarmaia4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small stories on how it could have gone, or bits and pieces that either never made it into the final story or were reworked so that they changed a lot. In case you were curious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So most of this is going to be just reworked scenes, or plotlines that I ultimately decided not to include. Also, since Gabriel narrates The Accidental Vessel, this will be what he wasn't there for - stuff that happened that he didn't notice or couldn't have known. I figure it might help with some parts of the story.
> 
> This chapter I thought I'd post today, since it's the original - or as close as I could find to the original - of the most recent scene from the actual story. I wrote this in October 2014 in the middle of one of my classes (Driver's Ed? Maybe? That probably wasn't a good idea).

The white light died down. Gabriel lowered the arm he'd thrown up to block his vision and saw Michael still standing, frozen, with one hand against the ridiculously tall tree.

Michael spun around, except ne wasn't really Michael Corner anymore.

"Gabriel!" Gabriel told himself he was imagining the note of relief.

"Michael."

They were standing about ten feet apart, Gabriel having been pushed back slightly from the tree. Michael took a step forward.

"I thought you were dead."

"Strange, I could have said the same for you." Gabriel kept his voice even.

Michael frowned. "Gabriel-"

"So what was this?" Gabriel interrupted. "A plan? Trying to get me on your side while disguised as a human so that when you got your Grace back I'd help you restart your little slap-fight-"

"I didn't even know you were _alive."_ Michael cut him off angrily. "Do you really have so low an opinion of me that you think I planned this?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to think?" Gabriel scoffed. " _You?_ As a _human?_ Something made you really desperate."

"This was not an attempt to force you to take sides!" Michael took another step forward and Gabriel found him[self?] taking one back internally cursing himself for showing how nervous he was.

They stood there for several moments before Michael straightened, having frozen mid-step when Gabriel went backwards.

"Let's go somewhere else," Was all ne said. "I don't want to accidentally destroy anything."

Which meant that they both could tell that this conversation wasn't going to end well.

Gabriel nodded curtly and spread his wings, landing near a planet illuminated by two suns. Michael followed quickly, white wings temporarily filling the space in before ne tucked them away.

"So how'd you end up as human?" Gabriel asked. "Matter of fact, you might as well tell me what the Winchesters did, since I was a bit out of the loop."

Michael scowled. "Dean Winchester," Ne said. "He used the Horsemen's rings to lock Lucifer back in the Cage."

Gabriel laughed. "Ha! So they did take my advice."

" _Your_ advice?"

"Michael, come on." Gabriel smirked, nervousness still running in a current in him because Michael was still his older sibling, and here Gabriel was, _taunting_ nem. "You thought you could throw an Apocalypse without me to to kick it off?"

Michael didn't seem to have an immediate answer for that. It was several moments before ne spoke. "And did they follow your advice with me as well?"

"With you?" Gabriel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Sam Winchester had taken control from and suppressed Lucifer," Michael explained heavily. Gabriel's eyebrows shot up. Sam had said yes? Not only that, but he'd managed to wrest control from an archangel? "I attempted to stop him from jumping into the Cage, and he-" Michael took a breath. "He pulled me in with him."

Oh.

"Sam wouldn't do that to Dean."

Something flickered in Michael's eyes - disappointment, maybe, that Gabriel hadn't immediately asked how ne was? "Dean Winchester didn't say yes."

What? "Then who was your vessel?"

"There was a third Winchester - Adam, their half-brother."

"Ah. A loophole." Gabriel shook his head. "Sorry. That wasn't my idea."

"I can hardly believe that using the Horseman's rings _was."_

"Speaking of that-" Gabriel swung his hands behind his back, energy seeking an outlet. "If you got dragged downstairs too, how'd you get out?"

Michael actually grinned slightly, the corners of nir mouth lifting. "Divine intervention."

"You're joking." Gabriel could feel the fake grin slid off his face.

"I'm not."

"Okay-" Gabriel held up his hands. "You expect me to believe that Dad got off His ass, wherever He is-"

"Don't talk-"

"I'll talk about Him however I damn well want," Gabriel snapped. "He didn't show up for the damn Apocalypse, why come just to drag you out of Hell?" His finger stabbed accusingly at Michael.

"I don't pretend to know what He thinks, but-"

"But what? He wanted His little General back in the field, couldn't let them stay in Hell for too long or they might go the same way as Lucifer-"

"Do not _ever_ say that to me!" Michael and Gabriel were suddenly nose-to-nose and Gabriel had to stop himself leaping backwards.

Michael's eyes were narrowed and nir hands fisted in Gabriel's shirt. "If you think that I would ever turn against Heaven-"

"I never said that." Gabriel tried and failed to slip out of nir grip. Michael, as if ne had just noticed what ne was doing, abruptly let go.

"Surprised the Winchesters managed to stop you," said Gabriel, smoothing out his shirt. "I mean, the fact that they managed to stop you two having your little slap-fight - impressive, considering how determined both of you were to go through with it-"

"I was ordered," said Michael quietly. "That didn't mean I wanted to."

Gabriel stopped completely, staring at Michael in confusion.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Did I just hear _you -_ the _General_ of the _entire_ Host - say you _didn't_ want to follow orders?"

"Lucifer was my brother - _our_ brother," Michael retorted. "Of course I didn't want to kill him. You wouldn't."

"Yeah, well, considering he tried to kill me, not a whole lot of love left."

"He _what?"_

Gabriel scoffed. "Don't act so naive, Michael, you know the rules as well as I do; you thought I was dead, and only an archangel can kill another archangel."

Michael seemed near speechless. "I don't believe that he would seriously-"

"What, didn't you talk it over in the pit before Daddy dearest pulled you out?"

"Stop it, Gabriel."

"Stop what?"

"What made you so angry at our Father?"

"Who says-"

"You can't lie to me, Gabriel." Michael didn't look at all smug, and not even angry anymore. "Maybe to Michael Corner, but not to me."

Gabriel didn't reply, instead bending down to look at the colorful planet, which was floating around his midriff.

"Gabriel." He heard Michael sigh, and damnit it was like he was a fledgling again and had fucked something else up. "It is because He talked to us?"

"I'm not mad at Him."

"Yes, you are." Gabriel knew Michael had come closer but he didn't look up. "He didn't just pull me out, you know. He gave us a choice."

Gabriel did look up at that. "Both of you?"

"Yes. He said we could stay in the Cage until the next time someone broke the seals, or we could become human."

"And you... _chose_ human." Michael making nir own choices. Pigs would fly.

"We both did."

Gabriel leaped to his feet at that. "Bo - you're telling me that Lucifer's running around somewhere?"

"Don't get so dramatic, Gabriel, he can hardly do any damage."

"Why are you so calm about this?" Gabriel asked after a moment of surprised staring. "Last I knew of you, you'd have been jumping at the chance to catch Lucifer off-guard."

"No, I wouldn't have." Michael said firmly. "And the deal to become human was for more than just fifteen years."

Gabriel got the idea immediately. "Reincarnation." Michael nodded.

"And Lucifer took this deal?" Gabriel asked disbelievingly.

Michael shrugged. "It was a chocie between that and staying in the Cage."

Gabriel gave Michael a considering look. "What about your vessels?"

Michael had obviously not expected this line of questioning. Ne tilted nir head as ne considered it. "I don't know," Ne said. "Castiel managed to pull Sam out fairly quickly, all things considered, but I've got no idea what happened to Adam."

"So he's either wandering around somewhere, or he's the only one still in the Cage." Gabriel pressed his lips together. "You know, I think I remember this kid. You pulled him out of Heaven, didn't you?"

Michael nodded shortly, looking slightly guilty.

Gabriel shook his head. "Some reward."

"Yeah." Michael blew out a breath. "You don't think he's really still down there?"

"Who knows?" Gabriel spun around, easily stepping over the planet and its twin suns. "Why do you look guilty, anyway? Did time served as a human give you a conscience?"

"Maybe it did," Michael said quietly. "Is that a bad thing?"

Was it?

"It shouldn't be," Gabriel replied easily, but internally he wondered. How long had Michael been human to affect nem to that extent?

"You said Lucifer tried to kill you," Michael began after the silence had begun to drag on. Ne had an unreadable expression, but Gabriel could have sworn ne looked worried. "I felt it when it happened. How did you survive?"

"Please." Gabriel scoffed. "I was up against _Lucifer._ You think I'd be stupid enough to let him get my real blade?"

"He would have noticed it was a fake."

"I know. I took precautions. That led to, well-" Gabriel gestured to himself and his vessel. "Unexpected consequences."

Michael didn't look like ne fully understood, but ne didn't ask further - which Gabriel was glad for, because he didn't feel like explaining again.

"So." Gabriel let his hands swing at his sides. "Now what? You track down Lucifer, find his Grace, duke it out like you originally planned?" _Please, Michael, use that conscience of yours and say no._

Michael looked conflicted, and even a little reluctant. "I don't know," he said eventually. Gabriel closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Damn it.

"Really?" He asked, looking at Michael angrily. "You're just going to go back to that old plan?"

"What else is there to do?" Michael demanded. "If you've got a message that says differently then by all means, share it."

"I don't need Dad to give me a message to know what it's a stupid idea," Gabriel snapped. "I thought you didn't want to?"

"I don't!" Michael had drawn nemself to nir full height and ne and Gabriel were back to glaring at each other, wings fluffed in and bristling. "But I don't see anyone telling me to do otherwise!"

"Do you have to have someone tell you to do everything?" Gabriel spat back.

"At least _I_ didn't run and hide!"

"So what if I did!" Gabriel jerked his hand away from where it had unconsciously strayed towards his angel blade, and Michael's eye caught the movement. "At least I must have figured out something you didn't, you blind idiot! If Dad really wanted to you two to end the world, then why didn't He make you fight when He hauled your asses out of the Cage?!"

Michael hesitated, stiffening. Ne didn't reply immediately, and instead turned so that nir back was to Gabriel.

"I'm going back to Earth," Gabriel said when Michael showed no sign of turning around. "Good luck with your existential crisis."

"No - wait." Michael turned sharply and Gabriel was tempted to leave anyway, just to piss nem off.

"You're mad at me, too."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, more of this?"

Michael didn't do anything other than frown slightly. "Gabriel-"

"If you say anything about expressing my feelings, I'm leaving."

"No, I-" Michael made as if to come closer, but seemed to think better of it. "Gabriel...I'm sorry."

What. The actual. Fuck.

" _What?"_ Gabriel stared at Michael, completely forgetting to try and look intimidating. "Who are you, and what have you done with Michael?"

"Is it really that surprising that I'd apologize? You've heard me-"

"I've heard Michael Corner," Gabriel interrupted. "Not you."

Michael opened nir mouth and then closed it again without saying anything. Ne looked away from Gabriel and down at the colorful planet.

"I remembered everything I'd ever done in a heartbeat," ne said. "I was all the sudden Michael, _the_ Michael, again, and...there was a part of me that said there was no way I could have done something like that." Ne paused for a moment, wings shuffling around and drawing around nem almost protectively. "So...I fucked up. And it took hundreds of years of being human to make me see that. So I'm sorry."

In all of the years Gabriel had ever known his sibling, he'd never seen Michael looking so _vulnerable._ It was almost _wrong;_ ne was Michael, Gabriel's eldest sibling and Commander of the Host and ne was standing there with nir wings wrapped around nem like ne was afraid of what Gabriel might say.

Gabriel made a disgusted noise and looked away. Damn nir apologizing skills, because Michael wasn't lying and Gabriel couldn't stay mad at nem when ne was acting like that.

"Gabriel?" He could tell Michael was looking at him.

"I accept that you're sorry," Gabriel said resignedly.

"...I guess I can't expect anything better." Michael glanced up from the planet. "Should we head back?"

"You can. I'm not going to explain to a load of wizards what's happened.

"You never did like doing things like that," Michael muttered.

"That's why it was your job," Gabriel retorted with little real heat.

Michael nodded lightly, a nonverbal agreement. "I'll see you later, then."

"...Yeah." There wasn't really a reason anymore for Gabriel to avoid nem, after all.

With twin movements, both archangels vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bored. Have another chapter.
> 
> I think you'll like this one, mostly because it involves multiple archangels. A page break indicates me switching to another piece that I wrote, btw, because all of these are little scraps I shuffled into the same chapter because they all deal with the same thing.
> 
> I don't regret not using this plotline, but it could've been interesting.
> 
> Oh, and for the bits where I wrote it out oddly, that was just because I wanted to get the conversation down without bothering with anything else. It's probably easy to tell, but R is Raphael, G is Gabriel, etc.
> 
> Also, warnings for implications of suicide a little later on.

"Raphael?"

Gabriel was gaping at the girl - his _sister,_ who up until now he'd thought was dead - in disbelief. She was smiling, but almost nervously, like she wasn't sure of their reaction.

"I thought you were dead." Michael's sword was held lax by nir side, and ne was staring as well.

"I could have said the same of both of you," Raphael replied. "I'm inclined to think that Someone intervened."

Gabriel could practically hear the capitals. He also knew who she was talking about.

Michael's sword vanished, and ne raised nir hand to Raphael's shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright," ne said, relief bleeding through nir Grace freely. "I didn't want to think-" Ne broke off, and then ne surprised Gabriel by pulling Raphael into a hug.

Raphael looked surprised, too, but she relaxed into it far more quickly than Gabriel would have expected, releasing [Michael] with a smile more genuine than her first one.

"I'm happy to see you, too," she said, fondness apparent, and turned to face Gabriel.

"What," she said, "No words for your sister?"

Gabriel hugged her too.

He felt Raphael's arms wrap around him, and bent his head into the crook of her shoulder so he could pretend there wasn't anyone else there.

"I thought I was the only one left," Gabriel muttered. Raphael stiffened, and judging by the way Michael's Grace sharpened, _someone_ couldn't keep their ears to themselves.

Raphael was the first to let go. "You'll have to tell me what I've missed," she said. "I know I've missed some things."

"Sure." Gabriel said immediately, ignoring the brief hurt that flashed across Michael's face. "I wouldn't say you've missed that much."

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you." Raphael was still smiling. "It's good to see you again, Gabriel."

"...Yeah. You too." Gabriel glanced around at the hallway they were in, wondering why they hadn't been walked in on yet. "We should probably go somewhere more private."

"Lead the way, then."

* * *

R: Are you okay now?

G: Mph. What time is it?

R: It's been about twelve hours. Michael and Lucifer are still downstairs.

G: What for?

R: I assume to talk privately, or assure themselves you were okay once you woke up.

G: Not arguing?

R: I haven't heard anything.

G: That's a first.

* * *

M: So, er...I assume we all know why we're here-

G: You make it sound like we're staring a business meeting. Lighten up, Michael.

L: Are you alright, Gabriel?

G:...Yeah.

R: What about you?"

L: What?

M: They used some magic and fixed him up.

L: It's convenient

L:...I want to apologize.

G: Wh - to me?

M: We're here to put all our cards on the table. We're not going to be able to get anything done if we keep arguing about everything.

G: So we'll do the same thing you said the first time-

R: And how well is that working for you and Michael?

G:...

M: So we're going to sort everything out, however long it takes.

G: We'll be here for a while, then.

R: You're the only one who doesn't seem willing.

G: Even _you_ two-

L: We've talked.

M: Gabriel, please.

G: You're serious.

R: Every bit.

G: ...What did you want to say?

L: About the Elysian - I don't...have an excuse. _Any_ excuse. Gabriel, I'm sorry.

G: You're sorry.

L: I can't say anything more than that without making excuses. I know it doesn't do much, but - I had to say it.

R: ...Gabriel?

G: I get it, alright? Just...don't expect a while lot to change.

M: *sigh*

R: What about you?

G: What about me?

M: You left.

L: You _what?_

G: So what if I left?

L: You left Heaven.

G: _So?_

R: Why?

G: _Why?_ I dunno, because everything went to shit after Lucy fell?

L:...Really?

M:...There were always meant to be four of us.

G: I'd say we sort of fucked up the getting-along thing.

* * *

Gabriel hit the door one more time, but it stayed stubbornly closed. Hermione had copied the symbols too well, and he hadn't even noticed - he'd thought the magic on the door was just to keep the kids out of Order meetings.

Gabriel refused to turn around and look at his siblings.

"Well, that's just perfect." The voice belonged to Raphael - none of them had female bodies save her.

"They locked us in?" Gabriel could picture Michael throwing an angry glance at Lucifer. "How?"

"They must have copied the sigils from the other door I reinforced," Gabriel reluctantly volunteered.

"What did you reinforce a door for?"

"In case I needed to lock Michael somewhere." He said it casually, but inside he was coiled tight and tense.

Which also meant, when he felt a cool hand on his shoulder, Gabriel flinched away from it so violently that he flew to the other side of the table, in the corner of the room opposite Lucifer, whose hand was still outstretched.

This had the unfortunate side effect of putting him closer to Raphael, but better her than Michael or Lucifer.

Lucifer turned around, but Gabriel pointedly looked away, wings shuffling uncomfortably as he was reminded of his sibling's new 'apologetic' stance.

The problem was, Gabriel didn't think he was lying, but he couldn't reconcile this human Lucifer with the Lucifer who had forced an angel blade through his chest.

"What now?" Michael asked irritably. "Just sit here until they decide to let us out? I thought they wanted our help with Voldemort and his followers."

"Maybe they got tired of us avoiding each other all the time and decided to take the situation into their own hands," Raphael suggested dryly.

Lucifer snorted. "Shows what they know."

"If all of us were at full power, it would have been a bad idea." Michael was still standing like the rest of them, despite the plethora of chairs in the room. "But you two are still human."

Once upon a time, Lucifer might have reacted with disgust at being called human, but now he didn't even flinch.

"Why did you accept?" Michael asked eventually.

Raphael looked confused, but Gabriel understood.

"It was a choice between that and the Cage," Lucifer said quietly. "After another couple centuries down there...bow bad could humanity be?"

"You _chose_ to become human?" Raphael looked astonished. Lucifer looked the other way.

"We were both offered a choice," Michael said when the silence began to drag on. "And I suppose we both took the same option."

"I don't remember how I became human," Raphael replied eventually. "I guess it was like falling, in a way, except without the fall."

"What was the point of making us all human?" Lucifer asked, hands clenching on the back of a chair.

"Maybe so we could see what we'd done wrong," Michael answered quietly.

They stood in silence for a minute until Michael sighed, pulled a chair out, and sat down. "We all know by now that humanity's...not exactly as we thought it was."

"Agreed," said Raphael, taking her own seat.

Lucifer exhaled shakily. "It offered...new perspective." He said finally. "What I'd done-"

"Don't." Michael interrupted, making the rest of them give nem startled looks. Ne took a deep breath. "We've all done things we're not proud of," Ne continued, "But you don't have to-"

"I _do_ have to, Michael." Lucifer burst out. " _Lillith_ least of all - what I've done - I couldn't-"

"You couldn't cope with it," Raphael finished, far softer than Gabriel would have expected her to be.

Lucifer's breath was huffed out, and Gabriel's perceptions of his older brother were really getting screwed over.

"This isn't - the only time." Lucifer admitted. "I was - I _had_ more than one human life where I remembered."

Michael, who had been listening patiently [and since when was Michael patient?] seemed startled by this new information. Lucifer kept talking before ne could interrupt.

"Sometimes I - I dealt with it, sort of, but...other times I ended it."

_What._

Gabriel was aware that he had a death grip on the table, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. All three of them were staring at Lucifer in horror, but his face was in his hands and he didn't see. Raphael swore under her breath in Enochian.

"Samael," Michael whispered, and Lucifer stiffened.

"I'm not."

"You are. If you hadn't Fallen-"

"Michael please...not now."

"...Do you regret that?"

"Do you regret what you did?"

"Yes." None of them had expected the immediate answer. "I - a thousand times over, I've told myself I shouldn't have done it." Michael's voice became almost pleading. "I thought I _had_ to."

"I know." Lucifer put his hands palm up on the table and stared at them. "Humans...they experience everything so _differently._ They feel more than we do." He lifted his eyes slightly and then looked back at the table instead of Michael. "But I can't love them more than _Father_." He said the last word in Enochian.

Michael breathed out sharply, closing nir eyes briefly and then opening them. " _You regret it_ ," ne said finally.

" _Yes_."

Michael still looked distrustful of Lucifer, which Gabriel whole-heartedly agreed with. "Why did you try and kill Gabriel?"

Lucifer looked shocked. Gabriel resumed his death grip on the table. Raphael's hand found its way to his arm, and he didn't try and dislodge it.

"I..." Lucifer shook his head. "I don't have any excuse-"

"I wasn't asking for one. I asked _why._ He's your little brother, Lucifer."

"I know."

Gabriel was entirely uncomfortable with this line of conversation, but he didn't dare turn his back on his siblings to avoid it.

"I didn't want to." He _definitely_ didn't want to listen to Lucifer sounding pitiful.

"Then why?"

"What's the point of this, Michael?" Gabriel snapped, and tried not to back down when both of them sharply turned their attention to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"This sudden need to defend me? I'm not dead. End of story."

" _Not_ end of story," Michael said severely, but Lucifer looked surprised and almost...relieved? "He tried to _kill_ you."

"I'm aware," Gabriel said. "I still think he's an ass-" He tried to ignore the way Lucifer's expression dropped. "But I'd rather not sit through you interrogating him."

"You don't think-"

"Just please shut up about me." _No, I don't want to know why my brother tried to kill me._

* * *

_Some time later  
_

"When do you think they're going to open the door?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Maybe never."

Raphael grinned wryly. "If there's one thing I've learned about humans, it's that they're not incredibly patient."

"You're right on that point.

* * *

R: You've been avoiding Lucifer.

G: Oh, really? I hadn't noticed.

R: I'm not blaming you. I have been, too, a little bit.

G:...

R: It's odd seeing him like this.

G: Mm.

R: Are you avoiding him because of that, or...what he did?

G: What do you think, Raphael?

R: I think that he truly is sorry.

G: Yeah, well, he still did it.

R: You weren't the only one who was ever affected, you know. I thought you were dead for ages.

G: Don't start lecturing me.

R: I wasn't going to. I get why you left. I'm mad that you did-

G: You said you understood.

R: I understand. That doesn't mean I have to like it. What did you think leaving was going to solve?

G: I was trying to avoid the problem, not solve it.

R: It was really that bad, huh?

G: For you, maybe not. I thought being human gave you a new view on all of this?

R: It was a while ago, and I haven't changed that much.

R: About Lucifer-

G: How about _not_ about Lucifer?

R: No, we need to talk about this. Do you think he's being serious when he says he regrets what he's done?

G:...Yes.

R: That's what I thought. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't being tricked. It's harder to tell...like this.

G:...

R: You don't want to forgive him, do you?

G: Would you?

R: I don't know. In your position, he'd probably have succeeded.

G: You're older than me.

R: You're sneakier.

G: Aw, Raphael, you're gonna make me blush.

R: I'm serious.

G: Do you think we _should_ forgive him? What would that even mean? Bringing him back upstairs and pretending nothing ever happened?

R: Probably not. I don't think many would react well to Lucifer returning to Heaven.

G: You didn't answer my first question.

R:...

R: Do you think our Father would forgive him?

G:...Like I'd know.

R: Why do you say that?

G: Well, unless you've seen him anytime in the last few millenia-

R: You don't think you can guess?

G:...

R: I think he would.

G: The same guy who told Michael to kick Lucifer's ass in the the first place?

R: I think that was meant as a test for Michael.

G: A test?

R: You don't remember all the little challenges He used to give us?

G: Hardly 'little'. You think He was watching to see what decision Michael would make?

R: Maybe. It would explain why He asked Michael to do it.

G: So what? All this is just Him seeing what we do?

R: Maybe He tried to give us free will, too, and he was seeing if it had worked.

G: _Us?_

R: Well, I wouldn't call what Lucifer did 'following orders'.

G: So He tried with us, failed, and made humans instead?

R: I didn't say failed.

G: You sure as Hell implied it.

R: I didn't mean...*sigh* You're twisting my words.

G: Not really.

R: I know you don't like me, but you could at least pretend not to be blatantly hostile.

G: I'm not - *aggravated sigh* I don't like Lucifer. You're alright.

R: No opinion on Michael?

G: They did sort of try to end the world.

R: So did I. I'd say I made a bigger mess of it.

G: ...You're different.

R: You mean human? So is Michael.

G: I'm allowed to be a hypocrite. I almost died.

R: Sixteen years ago?

G: I take what I can get.

R: I understand why you're mad at Lucifer, but you're being too hard on Michael."

G: Am I?

R: _Yes._ And you know it.

G: Well, too bad for Michael.

R: He's trying-

G: They.

R: _They_ are trying. It's not Michael's fault you keep pushing them away.

G: It's not as easy as it sounds.

R: You had an easy enough time forgiving me. What else is there to forgive Michael for?

G:...Raphael-

R: I think you're just not used to being around us.

G: What? *scoffs* Come on.

R: I'm serious. How long were you away from Heaven? None of us are used to being around each other again.

G: You and Michael-

R: Saw each other far less than you seem to think - but yes, we saw each other more recently, before any of us ended up here.

G:...

R: All I'm asking is you could give them a break once in a while.

G: Easier said than done.

R: Then start doing it.

G: You're not gonna let this go, are you?

R: I just think it would be nicer if we could get along.

G: You didn't say anything about Lucifer.

R: I'm still working on that myself.

G: Aren't we all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Archangels...so complicated, but so fun to write. Well, except for Lucifer. He's just tricky.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is in Alternate Vessels, but it's not something I ever planned on even putting in the story. It's more of a stray plot bunny that seized me last night and refused to let go, which is an odd mental picture.
> 
> Also, each line break is a skip to a different scene later in the book. I warn about it because I think it's done pretty abruptly. I tried to make it as obvious as possible what scene it is, so hopefully you guys will be able to tell. The majority is from the Deathly Hallows, but it starts in the beginning of Order of the Phoenix.

"I think they heard you shouting five cities away."

"Yeah Harry, let it out," George teased. "It's not good to bottle it up like that."

Taken aback, Harry just scowled at them. "It's none of your business," he said hotly. "I - I haven't been told _anything_ all summer!"

"We know," Fred said. "But if you'd like to be told something, we should probably start with that guy." He was looking at Ron and Hermione. "Y'know..."

"Oh!" Hermione seemed to suddenly realize what they were talking about. "Are you sure?"

"He's gonna meet him eventually," Ron pointed out.

"Who are you talking about?" Harry demanded.

"Pretty sure they mean me."

It was more than a little surreal to turn around and see yourself leaning in the doorway. Harry stopped dead.

"Hey," his - twin? - offered. "I'd shake your hand, but apparently no one's sure whether that won't bring apocalyptic, universe-rending doom down upon us."

"It was something Voldemort did," Hermione said. "We think. Some ritual...he was probably trying to get at you, but he got...well, _alternate_ you."

 _"Alternate_ me?" Harry spun to face her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Alternate, as in from alternate universes." His otherself strode into the room casually. He wasn't wearing glasses, and his hair was much longer than Harry's - more along the lines of how he'd styled it the year previously. He was smiling in a smirky sort of way that rubbed Harry the wrong way. "Most people have heard of the concept? It's a sci-fi thing."

"I don't read a lot of that," Harry said defensively.

"Eh," Other-Harry said. "You're wizards. I'll give you a pass." He DisApparated with a _crack_ that seemed weirdly echoey, leaving Harry staring at his friends.

"What the _hell_?"

"Hey, it's been weird for us too, mate," Ron said. "He may look like you, but he doesn't act a bit like you. More like Draco Malfoy-"

"You're just saying that because you don't like him," Hermione said dismissively.

"You've got to admit they're a little similar, Hermione," Fred said. "It's just less 'my father will hear about this'."

"It's more like he's pretending to be nice and planning our collective demises in his head," George continued. Hermione scoffed.

"He's trapped in the wrong universe," she said. "I don't think we can expect him to be _happy_ about it."

"It's just weird-" George began.

"That he looks so similar but acts so different," Fred finished.

"I mean-"

"Maybe if this other Harry was _white,_ it wouldn't be so much of a surprise."

"White people can be assholes."

"You're white," Ron said in exasperation. " _I'm_ white! Our entire family is!"

"C'mon, Ron-"

"You've _seen_ Percy, are you really going to argue?"

* * *

Harry didn't see the other-Harry for almost the entire year, and nearly succeeded in forgetting about him.

But the manner in which he was abruptly reminded of the other's presence made it kind of hard to forget.

"I don't have it!" Harry shouted at Bellatrix. "It's broken! Your master's not going to be happy when he hears that!"

"You lie!" The head of the house-elf statue shattered as another spell hit the fountain. "Give it to me! _Accio prophecy!_ "

Harry just laughed. She had lost, and she didn't even know it.

"No!" Bellatrix screamed. "Master, I am sorry, I didn't know!"

"He can't hear you!"

"Can't I, Potter?" The voice was quiet, but against the sudden, ringing silence in the Atrium it was easy to hear, and it froze Harry in place.

The statue exploded behind him, and Harry threw himself away, barely managing a _Protego._ A few stray shards of gold got past it, cutting into his skin. Harry could feel a scrape on his cheek bleeding.

Voldemort stood at the other end of the Atrium, regarding him coldly. Bellatrix had vanished - Harry must have missed the _crack_ of Apparition while he dodged the fountain.

"We meet again," Voldemort said. "You escaped me last time...but no matter. I will end it here."

"You've lost more than that," Harry said, scrambling to his feet. His wand had was shaking, but he kept it trained on Voldemort. "Your ritual failed. You didn't get me."

Voldemort hissed wordlessly. "Do you imagine that I was so careless as to try and summon _you_? No, Potter...if my ritual had succeeded, I would have summoned a being of incalculable power...but nothing showed up. And now I must resort to _this._ "

"What?" Harry was frozen again, for another moment. "But someone-" He cut himself off. Someone _had_ showed up for that ritual.

Or some _thing._

Harry was seized with a sudden and acute dread. Exactly what had they been harboring in Grimmauld Place this whole time?

Voldemort's snakelike eyes were fixed unnervingly on him. "You know something," he said, eyes narrowing even further. "Tell me, Potter...what did the Order find in the remnants of that ritual?"

"Me, mostly," a new and horribly familiar voice said. "Some other stuff, but let's face it, I'm the most important."

Other-Harry had somehow gotten in, standing equidistant between the two of them. He glanced at Harry, looking unimpressed.

Voldemort looked almost furious. "It _worked_? Then why have you not appeared to me before?" He pointed one long, white finger at Harry like a dagger. "I order you to kill him!"

Other-Harry slowly looked at Voldemort. One eyebrow inched its way up his forehead.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get this straight. I do not do _anyone's_ dirty work. I barely do my own dirty work. And secondly, even if you didn't happen to be a genocidal douchebag, you don't even have a fucking nose. I'd refuse on principle."

Voldemort didn't seem to know how to respond to that. Harry was still trying to process the fact that his otherself - or whoever the hell he was - had just called Voldemort a douchebag.

"You have to do what I say!" Voldemort sputtered eventually. "The ritual-"

"Ritual, smitual," Other-Harry cut him off calmly. "See, here's the deal with being - what was it? 'A being of incalculable power'..." He smirked, sharp and predatory and not something that looked like it belonged on Harry's face. "The rules don't apply."

Voldemort seemed to make a decision in a split second. " _Avada Kedavra!_ "

Other-Harry held up his hand, and the curse stopped dead before it hit him.

"Really?" He asked, sounding more bored than insulted. He twisted his hand, and the curse shattered into tiny chips of green light that faded in a second.

Then Harry was seized with a blinding light and _pain_ and everything _hurt-_

* * *

"He couldn't really have possessed you, yannow."

Harry spun around so fast that he felt his neck crack. Other-Harry looked amused, perched on the end of his bed. The Gryffindor dormitory was empty, except for the two of them - formerly one of them.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can't I catch up and see how it went?" Other-Harry was still smirking. Harry was beginning to think it was his default expression. "You going up against Voldemort and all."

"Why do you care?" Harry challenged. "I mean - I know you're my alternate self and everything-"

"Don't flatter yourself," the other said, cutting him off shortly. "You're just the most interesting person in this castle at the moment."

Harry eyed him suspiciously. "What are you?"

"That's a little rude," Other-Harry said. "You don't even know my name. Doesn't that usually come _before_ you start quizzing someone about their species?"

The word _species_ lingered uneasily. "Fine," Harry said. "What's your name?"

"Loki."

The way he was grinning put Harry off a bit. "Is that your real name?" He asked.

Loki's grin widened. "It's one of them."

Harry gave it up. "What are you, then?" He was interested despite himself. He'd already told Ron and Hermione and the Order about what had happened that night. He knew the name alone would probably have Hermione up researching possibilities.

"You heard Voldemort," Loki said. "Being of incalculable power. That about sums it up."

"I meant _specifically_ ," Harry said in frustration. "How did I even end up as a - being of - whatever?"

"That's a trick question," Loki mused. " _Technically,_ I'm not you at all. I mean sure, it's your body - or your alternate self's body, or whatever. I'm just...borrowing it."

"You're _what_?"

"Don't be so uptight," Loki scoffed. "Believe me, taking a vessel is _way_ preferable to me walking around without one. You think Voldemort caused chaos, wait 'till you see what I do _accidentally._ Besides, it's not like there's anyone else in here other than me. No human souls rattling around inside."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't," Loki said cheerfully. "But I am. Voldemort, some dead parents, a killing curse, I'm sure you know the story. I just happened to be in the area looking for a vessel."

"But I survived that," Harry objected.

"Yes you did." Loki raised his eyebrows. "And your alternate self did not. That's why they call them _alternate_ universes, genius - they're _different_ than the one you're in."

"So there's just no... _me_ in your universe?"

"They don't need him over there," Loki said, waggling his eyebrows and grinning. "They've got me."

* * *

Harry didn't see a single hint of Loki over the summer, and was relieved - he wasn't sure if he could have dealt with his weird alternate not-self.

He was relieved, that is, until Death Eaters broke in and they really could have used Loki's help.

"You have had _quite_ the night, haven't you?" And of course, he only showed up _after_ Dumbledore was dead.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ron had scrambled out of his seat, and was staring at Loki like an alligator was sprawled in the formerly empty armchair.

"Relax." Loki looked amused by Ron's reaction, but then again _everything_ seemed to amuse him. "I just thought I'd drop by."

"I don't know if you noticed," Hermione said shortly, "but now isn't exactly a good time."

"And _that_ is why I'm up here instead of in a different part of the castle." Loki settled further into the chair, looking for all the world like it was exactly where he belonged. It hadn't gotten any more unnerving to see an identical version of him walking around, but Harry wasn't in the mood to try and persuade Loki to leave.

"What do you want?" Ron asked, scowling as he sat back down.

"Who says I want anything?" Loki countered. "You three are the ones planning something."

"We're not planning anything," Harry said.

"Really?" Loki arched an eyebrow. "What's up with your secret mission with the old dude, then?"

The three of them froze.

"How do you know about that?" Harry demanded.

"Like I said, you're the most interesting thing in this universe at the moment," Loki reminded him. "I've been keeping an eye on you guys for ages."

"What the hell!" Ron sounded scandalized. "That's invasive!"

Loki scoffed. "Not _that_ invasive. Your bathroom time is none of my business, and I frankly don't _want_ it to be." He gave Ron an unimpressed once-over.

"Wait," Hermione said. "So you know about Horcruxes."

Loki's face immediately smoothed into cool indifference. "What about them?"

"We need to find them."

"Oh, brother." Loki rolled his eyes. "If you're about to ask me to help you look for them-"

"We'll help you get back to your universe," Hermione said. Loki's attention snapped back to her.

" _Deal._ " Loki grabbed Hermione's hand so quickly the motion was almost a blur. The smile on his face was as sharp as the one he'd given Voldemort, and Harry _really_ hoped he was imagining the crackle of magic that sealed the handshake.

What had Hermione just gotten them into?

* * *

Harry had just closed the door of the bathroom after Hermione when he heard a whistle. "Lie to your friends often?"

"Merlin's-" Harry spun around, flattening his back to the door. He wished he could have said he was surprised to see Loki perched on the [closed] toilet. "I thought you said you didn't do this!"

"You're still wearing clothes, aren't you?" Loki said. "If you _do_ have any plans on getting undressed, it's hardly anything I haven't seen before."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Loki gestured between the two of them. "Same body? Remember?"

Flushing, Harry moved to the sink, trying to find a place for his toothbrush and avoiding looking at Loki. "What do you want?"

"What did you see?" Loki asked him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No? I was pretty sure you knew you were having visions of Voldemort."

"It's none of your business," Harry said hotly.

"Funny, I thought I got roped into this whole misadventure." Loki stood up, moving to lean against the counter instead. "You _know_ that's not a thing humans normally do, right? Unless they're psychic. Or prophets. And you're neither."

"Yes," Harry said tightly.

"Just checking," Loki said cheerfully. "Man, these Horcruxes really are a problem, huh?"

"That's why Hermione asked you to help." Harry put his toothbrush behind the faucet, turning one of the handles with a creak. Water cascaded into the sink with a whoosh. Harry stuck his hands under it. Maybe if he looked busy enough Loki would take a hint and leave.

"That's the hot water," Loki said.

"No it's no - _ouch_!" The water went from freezing to scalding hot in a second. Harry yanked his hands away, nearly crashing into the wall behind him. Loki laughed loudly, like it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen.

When Harry looked up, the mirror only reflected one of him.

"Fantastic," he grumbled. "An all-powerful being, and he gets his kicks hurting us."

He could already tell that this was going to end in chaos.

* * *

"We _got_ the Horcrux?" Ron pushed himself into a sitting position. "Bloody hell, no one tells me anything! Let me see it!"

Hermione pulled it over her head, the emeralds sparkling in the sun.

"How are we going to destroy it?" Harry asked, the realization accompanying the dread creeping up on him.

Hermione hesitated. "Maybe we should call Loki."

"No way," Ron objected immediately.

"Who else do we know who can destroy it?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea," Harry said, "but how are we supposed to get in touch with him? It's not like he's got a phone we could call."

Harry hesitated. "Well," he said. "You did promise to help him get home. He'll probably find us eventually."

* * *

Loki did find them about an hour later.

"A warning would be nice next time," he said, making Ron startle so badly that he nearly fell off the bed.

"Bloody _hell_ -"

"We didn't have time to give you a warning," Hermione told him. "You're one to talk, popping in like this."

"I have to maintain my dramatic flair," Loki said with a completely straight face. "Sucks that you lost your secret hideout."

"You couldn't have helped with that?" Harry asked, moving to stand next to Hermione. "Being incredibly powerful or whatever, you couldn't have - I dunno - given us an easier escape plan?"

"Sure," Loki said. "Except you didn't tell me what you were doing, which is weird, considering you _asked_ me to help you find these things."

"You spent all of five minutes at Grimmauld Place," Hermione reminded him. "We don't know how to contact you-"

"You know what I am." Loki cut her off. "You can't guess?"

"No offense," Ron said in a way that said he absolutely did not mean 'no offense',"but we're not sacrificing anything to you."

"I'll let you skip that." The way Loki said it made Harry think there was an implied _for now._ "You've never tried _praying_?"

"Praying?" Hermione said skeptically.

"Yeah," Loki retorted. "It's something people usually do when any sort of deity is involved? Don't tell me you've never heard of it. And from the looks of how _this_ went, next time I'd suggest a backup plan."

"Fine," Hermione snapped, yanking the Horcrux over her head. "You can _start_ by giving us a backup plan for destroying these."

Loki met Hermione's stare coolly. "I didn't say anything about helping destroy them."

"You promised you'd help," Hermione countered. "If you want to be included, start now."

"You think you can tell me what to do?" Loki's voice was soft, but there was something in it that made Harry want to back away. The lights in the tent flickered.

Loki reached forward, and the metal of the locket bent like paper under his grip. There was a flash that made Harry squeeze his eyes shut and a faint, lingering scream.

The Horcrux barely looked like a locket anymore. Loki was on his feet, having let go of it.

"Next time," he said, "Try to remember what you're dealing with."

The three of them were left staring at the spot he'd previously occupied.

"Hermione," Ron said, "for all our sakes, _don't_ try to boss him around again."

* * *

The next time Loki appeared was when Harry was on guard duty, staring out at leaves and trees and then, abruptly, his reflection.

Harry windmilled backward, scrambling for his wand, and Loki laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

"Ha! Your _face_! That was so worth it."

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded.

"There's nowhere better to be at the moment," Loki said. "I mean, _technically_ I could be in Rio right now, but I look like I'm sixteen so there's no way that's going to be any fun."

Harry was pretty sure 'Rio' was meant to imply something a lot more inappropriate than what he was thinking of. "I thought you bailed."

"Hey, binding agreement." Loki wiggled his fingers, green sparks flickering around them. "I'm not interested in being stuck here for however long until this universe bites the dust, and your friend has offered me what is, apparently, my only out."

"Wait-" _What?_ "You're saying your only other plan is to wait until the world ends?"

"If this universe doesn't exist, I can't be trapped in it, can I?" Loki said it as if it should have been obvious.

"Wouldn't you die then, too?"

Loki just smirked at him. "What do you think?"

"Hermione looked up Norse myths," Harry told him. "They say you will."

"Do you see any other gods here?" Loki spread his arms. "If there's no one around to kill me, I'm not gonna die. Simple math."

"I didn't see anything about gods stealing people's bodies," Harry said.

"Humans never get everything," Loki said. "And what they do get, they don't get all of it right. You think you know me, don't you?"

He'd read the myths about Loki; what they could find, they all read. Still, Harry looked at the person in front of him and realized he didn't have a chance of understanding Loki.

"Not really," he said.

"Smart of you," Loki replied.

* * *

"Oh!" Luna's exclamation of surprise made Harry's head shoot up, and he'd never been so relieved and so incredibly furious to see Loki.

" _Where have you been_?"

Loki scoffed. "Please. I don't exist to live at your beck and call, kid."

"Didn't you hear us?" Ron shouted.

"Sure I did. Your friends are here, though. Now you get to rescue them," Loki said. "And possibly take out a few major players on your enemy's side. You're _welcome._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok honestly I'm not sure where I was going with this. Might post more later, but my imagination never went much further than the original reveal. 
> 
> Comment, please!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember how I mentioned that there was an alternate ending to the Accidental Vessel? Did I mention it? I don't know but here is that ending, in all its glory.
> 
> This was just too mean to actually end the story with :)

Thunder rumbled, fiercely enough that it seemed like it might shake the castle apart around it. Hermione glanced at the sky outside the window nervously. Rain was pounding down from a pitch-black sky, occasionally illuminated by bolts of lightning that looked close enough to set the Forbidden Forest ablaze.

"Michael's pissed," Balthazar said. He was one of the few that she already knew - Muriel had been a surprise, and Castiel she'd never met before.

"That's obvious enough," Aziraphale said. He looked worried, and kept glancing out the window at the sky, like he was expecting more than just a thunderstorm.

It was hardly _just_ a thunderstorm, though.

"How come ne can't find Gabriel?" Hermione asked. She hadn't dared to before, not with the way the angels were acting, but she couldn't stand not knowing. Thunder punctuated her sentence with an even more ominous rumble, barely preceded by a flash of lightning.

Castiel still looked stricken. "Gabriel's gone," he said. "There's nothing to find."

"That's not true," Muriel shot back. She looked like she was trying to convince herself of the same. "We know where his Grace is."

"Just his Grace?" Hermione asked sharply.

Balthazar nodded slowly. "That," he said, "and an empty vessel. Wherever the rest of him is..."

He didn't finish. Thunder crashed again, sounding like an avalanche descending on the school.

"Then what can we _do_?" Hermione demanded. This couldn't be the end of it. Gabriel was her _friend._ There had to be _some_ way to get him back.

"Nothing," Balthazar said sharply. "There's nothing _to_ do. None of us have any idea what happened, and the only one who could _tell_ us is fucking in the wind and left behind a vessel and a bloody trail through the forest."

"Balthazar," Muriel said softly, "enough. She's only human."

Hermione didn't think it was meant to sound like an insult, but it still stung. "Who cares if I'm human?" She said hotly. "I'm still his friend! And I don't think you should just be giving up on this!"

"None of us are giving up." Castiel's voice was surprisingly steady as he looked up to meet Hermione's accusatory gaze. "If Gabriel has been parted from his Grace, then the rest of him is somewhere else in a situation similar to Michael's."

It took a moment for Hermione to understand. "Human," she said. "You mean he's human."

"He's not dead," Muriel said, "so yes. Somewhere. We have no idea of knowing where. The only thing we _can_ do at the moment is see if he finds his way here again."

"What if he doesn't?" Hermione asked. "What if he never remembers?"

A particularly loud rumble of thunder broke over their heads. Hermione felt the tower shake. All of them glanced nervously at the ceiling. Hermione guessed that they were all wondering if Michael might bring the school down around their heads on accident.

"Well," Baltahzar said, "there's a reason Michael's furious."

* * *

Hermione tried not to linger on it. Fleur helped - even though she hardly knew Gabriel, she'd known how much losing a friend would affect Hermione.

"He's not really gone, though," she said one night, curling around Hermione in a comforting embrace.

"No," Hermione sighed, twining her fingers around Fleur's. "But there's no guarantee any of us will ever see him again."

Fleur was quiet for a few moments. "I know a little of religion," she said eventually. "The girls at my school - some of them were Muslim."

"You mentioned that before," Hermione said. She could feel Fleur shrug against her back.

"I learned a little from them," Fleur continued. "They prayed often, to a God they fully believed in. I don't know if I do, but...if there are angels, there must be God, right?"

"I guess," Hermione said. "I've never asked any of them about it."

"So if God is real," Fleur said, "then my classmates would also be correct when they say that He has a plan for everything. Wouldn't He eventually lead Gabriel back to you?"

Hermione pressed her face into the pillow. "I don't know." It would be nice to think that there was some plan in motion, some higher power directing everything to a happy ending. "Wouldn't He have stopped Gabriel from ending up human in the first place?"

"God is supposed to have a reason for everything."

"It sure doesn't seem like this was done for a reason," Hermione said. "It just seems like Gabriel nearly getting killed and none of us being able to help him."

Fleur's arms tightened around her. She pressed a kiss to Hermione's neck. "I think Gabriel will be fine," she said. "And you will see him again. Bad things do not last forever for good people."

Hermione wished she could believe that as wholeheartedly as Fleur seemed to.

* * *

Even without Gabriel, life went on.

Hermione visited his family a few times every year, or at least made an effort to remember to. She figured three or four times a year was probably enough - they had a very different concept of time, after all.

The first year, his kids seemed morose, quiet and mostly keeping to themselves. Even the twins had been affected by it - they did a better job of hiding it, but Hermione thought they seemed just as shocked.

"It's just weird, you know?" Vali told her once. "He was the kind of guy that nothing could take down."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said. "Invincible, in a way."

"Yeah." He had stared moodily at nothing in particular for a few seconds. "It sucks. I barely got to know him again."

Hermione had frowned at him. "Got to know him?"

"My mom and him split up when I was a kid," Vali had told her. "I hadn't seen him in, like - well, I was about thirty when it happened, and I'm a little over nine hundred now."

"Oh."

"It hit the other guys hard," he'd said. "Hel, especially. She's basically the only one of us who's had any regular contact with him for...I dunno, the last few centuries or so."

From his tone, Hermione got the feeling she didn't want to know why the rest of them _hadn't_ had any contact.

* * *

A few years after Voldemort's death, Hermione got a job at the Ministry.

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement!" She was practically vibrating with excitement when she got home, throwing her bag to the side and going straight to Fleur.

" _C'est magnifique_!" She hugged Hermione. "Now the house-elves have their defender, yes?"

"Well, I'll have to wait until I'm a bit more senior for that," Hermione said. "I'm just hoping I'll be able to get into the Wizengamot eventually. I still don't know how anyone gets _chosen_ for that-"

"That can wait." Fleur kissed her, pulling back with a wide smile. "We should go out. Tonight. Somewhere nice, to celebrate."

Hermione couldn't help but smile back. "That sounds like a great idea. We haven't been out in ages."

"We should go back to France some time," Fleur said, winding an arm around Hermione's waist. "We can stay with my parents. I can show you all the best places to be."

"I've been to France before." Hermione leaned into the casual embrace.

"You've been to tourist France," Fleur said dismissively. "The real thing is much more impressive."

* * *

Hermione had met Fleur's parents once before - briefly - but being a guest in the Delacour house was a little overwhelming.

"Your parents are really nice," Hermione said.

"They like you," Fleur replied. "And why shouldn't they? You're quite accomplished, especially with Britain's prejudice against Muggleborns."

"You're forgetting my amazing hair," Hermione said.

"That, too." Fleur laughed, closing the distance between them to prop her head on top of Hermione's and lean over her shoulder. "What are you working on?"

"Just Ministry stuff." Being in the DMLE meant bringing work home - and on vacation.

"Oh, not _now._ " Fleur looped her arms around Hermione's shoulders. " _Amoureux,_ work can wait."

"It's for a case."

"For us," Fleur said, "it can wait."

* * *

After Isabelle was born (which only happened after a few years that had managed to be the best years of Hermione's life), Hermione made a habit of inviting Gabriel's three boys over.

They seemed fascinated by Isabelle - or Izzy, as she had been officially dubbed after the first visit. Fleur had been worried about how they would handle being around a much more fragile, human baby, but they were very adept at making sure Izzy didn't hurt herself.

"I helped take care of Hel a lot when she was a baby," Slepnir said when Hermione asked him about it. "And Fenris and Jor, a little bit."

Last time Hermione had checked, Hel had looked _older_ than the three of them. It was frustrating not to know what had happened - the three of them had gotten maybe a year or two older in the time that she'd known them, so there was no way that was just natural aging - but Hermione had been warned by Gabriel the first time she'd met them not to ask.

Either way, they were good playmates and, on occasion, babysitters, when Hermione and Fleur needed to go out. It wasn't as though none of them were old enough. Fleur worried that they'd get into mischief, being related to Loki and all, but Jormungand was apparently very good at reining in any of their siblings' crazy ideas.

The three boys became just as much a part of Hermione's life as Izzy was - and if they were a constant reminder of Gabriel, well, she could deal with that.

Luna would stop by sometimes, as well. She'd adopted two boys around the time Izzy had been born, which Hermione didn't think was just because her father had been dropping not-so-subtle hints about grandchildren.

"Not two boys," Luna had corrected her at one point. "Lillian's a girl. Her name isn't Lorcan."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"It's alright," Luna said. "I didn't realize either until she told me, which was a little awkward. Imagine if you'd adopted someone and spent a week calling them by the wrong name."

"I hope she didn't mind." Hermione poured out two cups of tea.

"I don't think she did. Isn't Fleur coming?"

"She's busy with work," Hermione explained, over the sudden rise in volume from the living room.

Luna glanced towards the door, through which they could see all six children draped over various pieces of furniture and talking animatedly. "I should come by more often."

"It might give the twins someone else to play with other than just each other," Hermione said. "I'd heard you interviewed for the Astronomy position, actually?"

"Oh, yes," Luna said cheerfully. "It's a shame Professor Sinistra's retiring, isn't it? I thought she was quite good."

"I didn't know she was retiring." Hermione sipped at the tea. "Is anyone else?"

"I don't think so," Luna replied. "But Hogwarts is getting more crowded, you know. More people around to have more kids. I think they're going to start hiring more than one professor for each subject, so no one gets overcrowded with students."

"Really?" Hermione couldn't imagine a Hogwarts so crowded - then again, the castle would forever be full of empty rooms and drafty hallways in her memory. "I suppose we never took up much space in the castle."

"It's because we were a war generation," Luna said. "Voldemort killed a lot of people."

"I suppose." Hermione glanced warily into the living room, in case anyone was eavesdropping. They looked too absorbed in whatever game they were constructing to be paying attention. She was pleased to see that Jormungand was sitting to one side with Izzy carefully propped in his lap. "Why Astronomy?"

"Well, it was the only open position," Luna said, "and I wanted to be at Hogwarts when Gabriel came back."

Hermione nearly spilled her cup.

"When _what_?"

"He's going to find his way back eventually," Luna said matter-of-factly. "That's his power in that tree in the Forbidden Forest, isn't it?"

"What does that-" Hermione felt entirely off-kilter. What did Luna know that she didn't?

"Power draws to power," Luna said. "The Grace is Gabriel, and wherever _he_ is is him too. It's all a part of him."

"How are you so sure?" Hermione demanded. Luna shrugged.

"It's just something I know," she said. "It makes sense. He'll be back eventually."

* * *

If Gabriel _was_ coming back to Hogwarts, he didn't seem to be in any hurry.

Lysander and Lillian were going into their second year, and Hermione's life was practically split between taking care of Izzy and Ministry duties. She wasn't an Auror, luckily, which meant more regular hours at the Ministry and more opportunities to be at home instead of at work.

Her life was busier than it had ever been at Hogwarts, which meant the years passed quickly enough that she only stopped and fully realized how long it had been when something came up to remind her. When Izzy had first gone to Hogwarts - it seemed impossible that she was eleven already.

Izzy had managed to befriend almost everyone, it seemed, except those in her year, which led to her complaining that her best friend was graduating. Fenris, who had looked about six the first time Hermione seen him and now appeared to be somewhere in the vicinity of twelve despite fourteen years having passed, was offering to send her letters so she'd have someone to talk to.

"It won't be the same," sighed Izzy. "I'm only going to be in my second year and she's graduating!"

"You can still send her letters," Hermione said. "It isn't as though you'll never see her again."

"I'll be at _school_ all the time." Izzy flopped onto her side dramatically, legs hanging off the sofa. "I won't be able to _see_ her until summer and she might be _busy._ "

"Well, you can figure something out when we see her today." Hermione flicked her wand at the dirty dishes in the sink, and they leapt up and began cleaning themselves.

"You're going to see her today?" Fenris asked curiously.

"It's graduation today," Izzy said.

"Your friend is not the only one graduating," Fleur reminded her, walking in from the other room. "It's Lysander and Lillian's big day, too, so don't spend the whole time with Anna."

"I _woon't._ But it's the last time we'll ever be at school together!"

Fenris looked mystified. "I thought school was already over."

"Graduation takes place after term ends," Hermione told him. "I'm afraid we're about to leave, though. Are you alright getting home on your own?"

"Yeah." Fenris hopped down from the sofa. "I don't live that far away. I'll see you later, Izzy!"

"Bye!"

* * *

"It's odd to think that it's been seven years already," Luna said, making Hermione start.

"Luna - I didn't see you there!" Hermione tried to cover her surprise. "Er - I suppose it has been."

"It's only Izzy's first year, right?" Luna smiled down at Izzy. "How did it go?"

"Good," Izzy said.

Luna nodded, and then her eyes moved to something just behind Hermione. "Oh, hello, Muriel."

"It's nice to see you two again," Muriel said as Hermione turned to face her, startled again. She was wearing robes instead of what Hermione remembered as her usual Muggle jacket.

"You as well," Hermione replied automatically. She'd seen almost nothing of any of the angels since Gabriel had vanished. "I didn't know you were still teaching at Hogwarts."

"Muriel took over from Headmistress McGonagall," Luna provided. "It would be a bit difficult to run the school _and_ teach Transfiguration."

"I believe that was most of her motivation," Muriel said with a smile. "Minerva seemed quite loath to give up the position she'd been teaching for so long."

"I can understand that," Hermione said. "I don't remember anyone teaching it but her."

"I think she held the position for a while," Luna said.

Izzy suddenly tugged on Hermione's hand, dragging her attention away from the conversation. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "There's Anna! Can I-"

"Go ahead." Hermione watched Izzy dart through the crowd.

"I didn't know you had a daughter," Muriel said, following Hermione's gaze as Izzy squeezed between two boys in Ravenclaw ties.

Hermione resisted the urge to retort with something like _Well, if you wanted you had plenty of time to visit._ "Fleur and I agreed about kids," she settled on. "Though persuading her to use a Muggle method took a while."

"A Muggle method?" Luna questioned.

"Well, we can hardly both of us have a child biologically by natural means-" Hermione's sentence was cut off as Izzy wound back through the crowd towards them, Anna in tow.

"Anna, this is my mum," she said so quickly that there was barely any space between the words. "MumthisisAnna."

"Nice to meet you," Anna said, grinning. "I guess now I know who Izzy got her hair from."

"My hair's _cool._ " Izzy said. "Oh, and that's Anna's brother Luca." A boy had slipped up and seemed to be mostly hiding behind Anna. He looked like he was in between Izzy's age and Anna's. He wasn't wearing robes, just a tee shirt and jeans. He was wearing some sort of pendant, which was a strange addition.

"What year are you in?" Hermione asked, trying to make conversation.

"I'm not magical," Luca said. "'S why I've got this." He pointed to the pendant.

"I'm Muggleborn," Anna explained. "I'm the only one in my family. They gave him that so he could go around the wards."

"I didn't know they could do that." Luna seemed fascinated.

"I helped a bit," Muriel admitted. "Since I know the wards well." She was staring at Luca with furrowed brows, but Hermione couldn't see whatever Muriel found so odd about him.

Luca grinned broadly at her. "Thanks, then," he said. "It feels weird, though. It was all tingly when I came in."

"Really?" Izzy leaned around Anna to get a better look at the pendant. "That's so cool! Maybe we could go down by the edge of the wards and see what happens-"

"I hope not," a new voice said. A woman had come up behind them out of the crowd. "I don't want either of you down by that Forest. I've been told it's called Forbidden for a reason."

" _Mama,_ " Anna said in what was almost a whine. "We weren't going to go down by the forest!"

"Either way, I'd like you both somewhere I can see."

"What if I get someone to turn me invisible?" Luca said in a falsely innocent voice.

"I'm not going to turn you invisible," Anna said.

"But you're allowed to now!"

"No one will be turning invisible," the woman said firmly. "Lord knows you cause enough trouble as it is." She held out a hand to Hermione. "You're Isabelle's mother, correct?"

"Yes." Hermione shook it. She noticed that the woman was wearing a pendant identical to Luca's. "It must be quite something for you to be here."

"Magic is not something I thought I'd ever have to deal with," the woman agreed. "I'm Teresa."

"Hermione Granger. This is Luna," Hermione said, gesturing to Luna, who waved.

"I think I'll leave you to your conversation," she said. "I had better go find the twins. I promised them I'd take them to Weasley's as a graduation present." She drifted off through the crowd.

"Weasley's?" Teresa looked puzzled.

"It's a joke shop," Hermione explained. "They sell things you can use to set up harmless pranks. It's run by a few old classmates of mine, actually."

"It's really cool," Anna said.

"I wanna go," Luca said.

"Absolutely not," Teresa replied. "The last thing you need is _magical_ supplies."

Luca pouted, scuffing his sneakers on the lawn. "Aww."

The sound of heavier feet on the ground alerted Hermione to the fact that someone was behind her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

" _Michael_?"

Michael smiled at her, but nir attention was somewhere else. "I heard there was a celebration I shouldn't miss."

Hermione didn't miss they way nir eyes flickered to Muriel, like Michael was wondering exactly _why_ ne was there.

"I didn't think you'd be here," Hermione said. "It's graduation, not a reunion."

"Just thought I'd drop by," Michael said. "Can we speak privately for a moment?" Ne seemed like ne was talking more to Muriel than to her.

Hermione gave Teresa a winning smile she'd perfected on the idiots at the Ministry. "Excuse us for a second."

* * *

"What was that all about?" Hermione hissed.

"Muriel's the one who called me," Michael said sharply. "You said this was important."

"It is," Muriel said.

"Then _what_?"

She tilted her head back towards the group they had just left. "Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

It took Hermione a moment to realize she meant Luca, and another moment to realize what Muriel meant. "Oh, my God."

Michael had gone completely still, looking caught between longing and restraint. Nir blue eyes were fixed on Luca - _Gabriel._

But _was_ he Gabriel?

"His Grace is in the forest," Hermione said without even thinking.

"He's barely a teenager _,_ " Muriel said. "Would it - he's just a child."

"Age doesn't matter," Michael said. "We...could explain." It was a weak retort.

Hermione was caught between two options. They could find a way to lead Gabriel back to his Grace...but what would the consequences be?

"Wait." Muriel had held out her hand, and her eyes were on Luca as he slipped away from the crowd, Izzy just behind him.

"Where are they going?" Michael's forehead creased.

* * *

Towards the edge of the wards, as it turned out, which due to the location of the graduation party was right at the edge of the forest.

Luca went inside.

Michael followed him.

Ne hadn't been on Earth in ages - mostly ne had stayed in Heaven, trying to sort out what had gone wrong. Muriel contacting nem had been what brought nem back down - and ne was glad ne had.

Gabriel was important enough that Heaven could wait.

Impatiently, Michael flicked nir wings out, stirring the air into a sudden wind that startled Luca - _Gabriel_ \- forward a few steps when he paused. The tree wasn't that deep in the forest.

Michael wasn't thinking of the sister or the mother that Gabriel had found himself with.

Ne was thinking of a dead Knight and a destroyed warehouse and no sign of a brother.

When Gabriel saw the tree, he paused again, staring up at the canopy that arched a seemingly impossible distance over his head (to a fourteen-year-old, at least). His expression was full of curiosity, and Michael saw nothing but exactly what Gabriel had been when he'd only just been created.

Gabriel approached carefully.

Stumbled.

Put his hand on the trunk to catch himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahaha I have no idea what happens after that.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, Michael's a bit OOC....I think it's obvious why I rewrote this. Any comments?


End file.
